While it has not been formally announced, it has been reported that the Florida Marlins have signed shortstop Hanley Ramirez to a six-year, $70 million contract. This is a major move on the part of the Marlins, who have infamously blown up two World Series championship teams right after they won the Series in 1997 and 2003. In the past, when the Marlins developed a star player such as Ramirez the question was not whether they were going to trade of the player before they had to start paying a star’s salary, but when and to whom.
The fact that they have locked up Ramirez until his age 30 season (and thus through what is likely to be the most productive phase of his career) signals not only that they think Ramirez is a player around which they can build a team, but they intend to actually build a team around him. If indeed they have gotten serious about competing for the long haul, this could become one of the elite franchises in the National League.
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